Sir Ian McKellen has confirmed that he will indeed reprise his role as Gandalf in the new Hobbit adaptation that is being produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro. McKellen tells Empire Magazine, “Yes, it’s true. I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf.”
Source: Empire Online
IDW Publishing has announced that they are producing a brand new five-issue comic miniseries based on the 1999 film Galaxy Quest. The series is called Galaxy Quest: Global Warning, and IDW had this to say about the plot:
In Global Warning, written by comics veteran Scott Lobdell (Uncanny X-Men) and featuring full art and colors by Greek artist Ilias Kyriazis, it’s been 20 years since the cast of Galaxy Quest ruled the airwaves. Alas, the intervening decades have involved lots of sci fi conventions and retail store grand openings and precious few acting jobs for our brave band of thespians. Now, on the eve of the re-launch of America’s most beloved science fiction series, Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues, a world-threatening crisis occurs! Will the Earth survive? Maybe, if Jason Nesmith and his fellow actors-turned-adventurers have anything to say about it! In the immortal words of his alter ego, Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, “Never give up! Never surrender!”
IDW already has several successful TV- / film-to-comic licenses under their belt, including Angel, Star Trek, and recently Ghost Whisperer. The Galaxy Quest miniseries serves as a sequel to the movie, with the first issue slated for an August release.
Source: Newsarama
Photo by M.J.S.
This week there are no new games to download on the XBox Live Arcade. Feel free to speculate about why this may be, but I suspect it has something to do with a fellow named Niko and his cousin’s cab company.
Hitting stores today, Thor: Ages of Thunder #1 is the first part in a serialized graphic novel written by Matt Fraction with pencils by Patrick Zircher and Khari Evans. Existing outside the current Thor continuity, this graphic novel is a fascinating story in that it digs back into the Marvel Asgardian mythos and shows the origins of the Marvelized version of Thor and the Norse gods.
This first issue opens with a beautifully rendered map of Ygddrasil, the life tree that is the center point for the Norse cosmology. And right away we get exposition and narration that sounds less like a comic issue and more like the recounting of a creation myth. There are a few points where Fraction gets too clever, and his narrative voice rings a little too modern, but for the most part he maintains the epic mythological tone quite well.
The central story in this first issue concerns the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their desire to lure Idun the Enchantress away from Asgard. Their attempts involve warfare, trickery, and even dabbling with Loki prior to his being a Marvel supervillain and generally hated by everybody. The characters here—Odin, Thor, Loki, Heimdall, the Enchantress, the Executioner, and all the rest—are recognizable from their Marvel appearances, but they very clearly are steeped in their mythological origins in this story.
Ages of Thunder is an engaging and brutal comic book that definitely is worth a read. I give this issue:
6/7
The poster for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has been revealed. The film stars Brendan Frasier, Maria Bello, and Jet Li and is the third Mummy movie (we’re not going to count The Scorpion King). The movie will be in theaters August 1.
Source: BadTaste.it
As the rest of the video gaming world is furiously racking up felonies in Liberty City, Rock Band has rolled out three new tracks today. The new songs are available for download individually for 160 MS points ($2) each. Here’s what’s up for grabs:
The only way you can get these is by downloading them individually; there’s no track-pack this week.
Source: Major Nelson
A new book all about the politics, themes, and impact of Battlestar Galactica is hitting shelves this week. It’s called Finding Battlestar Galactica: An Unauthorized Guide, and it examines BSG from some unique perspectives, including sections such as “Political Realities and the Culture of Fear” and “Battlestar and the Bush Era.” The book comes from writers Lynette Porter, David Lavery, and Hillary Robson, a team that previously has turned out several other books that critically examine television pop phenomena. Their earlier efforts include:
Finding Battlestar Galactica releases this week with a cover price of $14.95, but you can get it at Amazon for $11.51.
Singstar is a big Playstation 2 hit, and it’s hitting the Playstation 3 on May 20 with the launch of the US Singstar Store. The store launch comes as a standalone disc for $40 or as a bundle with two microphones for $60. The initial songlist includes 30 tracks, and a whole bunch more will be available for download through the Playstation Network for $1.49 a piece. Here’s what you’ll get with your initial purchase:
Amy Winehouse - “Back To Black”
Beck - “Loser”
Blind Melon - “No Rain”
Blink-182 - “All The Small Things”
Britney Spears - “Toxic”
Coldplay - “Clocks”
Corinne Bailey Rae - “Put Your Records On”
Dave Matthews Band - “Crash Into Me”
David Bowie - “Let’s Dance”
Faith No More - “Epic”
Franz Ferdinand - “Do You Want To?”
Jane’s Addiction - “Been Caught Stealing”
New Found Glory - “My Friends Over You”
Ne-Yo - “So Sick”
OutKast - “Hey Ya!”
Pixies - “Here Comes Your Man”
R.E.M. - “Losing My Religion”
Radiohead - “No Surprises”
Scissor Sisters - “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”
The Automatic Automatic - “Monster”
The Cardigans - “Lovefool”
The Killers - “Mr. Brightside”
The Pussycat Dolls - “Beep”
The Ramones - “I Wanna Be Sedated”
The Rolling Stones - “Sympathy For The Devil”
The Smashing Pumpkins - “Today”
U2 - “Beautiful Day”
Warrant - “Cherry Pie”
Weezer - “Buddy Holly”
Wolfmother - “Love Train”
PS3Fanboy also has the full initial list of downloadable songs, and it’s pretty huge.
Source: PS3Fanboy
DigitalSpy has a new interview with Anthony Stewart Head, in which they ask him about the status of the much rumored and long delayed spinoff from Buffy the Vampire Slayer that would focus on his character, Giles. Previously he’s mentioned that the spinoff would be produced by the BBC and would be called Ripper. Beyond that, details have been sketchy. It doesn’t sound like things have gotten a lot closer to actually happening, but it’s always good to hear that the project is still in the realm of maybe-possibly. Here’s what ASH had to say about Ripper:
“The latest is that I was over in LA last year at about this time. I bumped into Julie Gardner from BBC Wales who said ‘has anything ever happened to that?’ And at the same time I had just been speaking to Joss [Whedon] saying that there are a lot of people who keep asking about it. He said ‘Is there anybody at the BBC I can talk to about it?’ so I introduced him to Julie Gardner and they got on very well… and then the writers’ strike happened and Fox picked up an idea of his called Dollhouse that he’s doing with Eliza Dushku. So the answer is that there is a possibility of something happening… the story that he’s written could adapt to being a one-off story not necessarily related to Buffy. All that means that there is the will and there is the means. It’s a question of how, when and if it [comes together] through the next year or so… All I can say is that it’s a ghost story. But a ghost story with a real Joss Whedon difference. It’s got such a twist to it. But I wouldn’t want to give it away. It would be the worst spoiler of all time.”
This thing will get made, if the BBC knows what’s good for ‘em.
Source: Digital Spy
What video games are releasing this week? Oh, just a little juggernaut called Grant Theft Auto IV. Amazingly, a few other games are hazarding a release in its wake, including the movie-inspired Iron Man game. Check out all the releases here:
Playstation 3:
XBox 360:
Wii:
PC:
Nintendo DS:
PSP:
Playstation 2:
Accessories:
